Riding The Dinosaur

Clinton plays his first round of the presidential press-conference game

BILL CLINTON, ESTABLISHED WIZARD OF HIGH-TECH communications, finally bowed to the antiquated ritual of the East Room press conference, favored forum of the White House press corps. Using humor and knowledge to parry 31 questions ranging from budget to Boris Yeltsin, Clinton showed himself a master of the ring for nearly an hour, with only one small glitch. That was a hint that if he lifted the ban on gays in the military, they might be placed in segregated units. While such a compromise was tossed around in the testy debate between President and Pentagon, the White House began taking even...

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